Sub-Saharan Africa

This roundtable will be based on the presentation of the IMF report on the economic perspectives for Sub-Saharan Africa and on AFD’s study on the export structures in the Franc zone. It will provide the opportunity to discuss the challenges that the countries in the region will have to face in the very near future, with a focus on two issues in particular: the management of their natural resources and their integration into world trade.

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In the presence of:

• Roger Nord, Deputy Director, African Department, IMF
• François-Xavier Bellocq, Head of the Macroeconomic Analysis and Country Risk Division, AFD

The “Ideas for Development” cycle of conferences

From 29 May to 13 June, AFD will be organizing an “Ideas for Development” cycle of five interdisciplinary conferences on a range of topic areas. These events will provide a framework for discussions on development issues with numerous experts with a professional or personal interest in this field. They are intended as a new forum for debates and meetings between researchers, students, professionals from a wide range of fields, and the general public.

How can Africa’s “return to growth” and the good ratings that a number of its countries benefit from be understood? What do the macroeconomic accounts on the “new emerging countries” mean, as well as the use of statistical indicators for both those who govern and the population?

The aim of the “Politique Africaine” report on “bottom-up macroeconomics” is to shed light on these questions by adopting a socio-political approach. The authors of the publication analyze the practices surrounding macroeconomic objects and policies and highlight the emergence of new players, new instruments and new ways of grasping the reality; by doing so, they show how these new techniques drastically change socio-political relations and the balance of power within African societies and give these players the opportunity to attain new positions of power.

Macroeconomics is not understood here as the theoretical corpus of economists.

It is, on the contrary, considered as a platform for social struggles and conflicts between social groups and a material to understand the logics of the State, the mechanisms of power and the techniques of knowledge. The macroeconomics of globalized capitalism, thus addressed “from the bottom up”, is therefore seen as a mode of government and of subjugation.

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This report will be presented by its two coordinators:

• Béatrice Hibou (CNRS, Sciences Po / CERI, FASOPO),
• Boris Samuel (SciencesPo CERI, FASOPO)

The presentation will be introduced and discussed by:

• Louis-Jacques Vaillant (Economist, Executive Director of External Relations and Partnerships, AFD)
• Jean-Bernard Véron (Economist, Editor of the review Afrique Contemporaine)

To be followed by a debate with the public.

► Consult the contents of the report and a summary of the articles (in French)
► Download the introduction (in French)

The “Ideas for Development” cycle of conferences

From 29 May to 13 June, AFD will be organizing an “Ideas for Development” cycle of five interdisciplinary conferences on a range of topic areas. These events will provide a framework for discussions on development issues with numerous experts with a professional or personal interest in this field. They are intended as a new forum for debates and meetings between researchers, students, professionals from a wide range of fields, and the general public.

Click here to register

What land reforms are able to meet the challenges of food security, sustainable management and the fight against poverty and inequalities?

Between customs and modernity, what are the current practices for access to land in Africa? What assessment can be made of land policies since independence? What are the risks and opportunities offered by new investors? What are the catalysts that can be used to make land a driving force for the modernization of African agriculture?

Recognized experts and personalities will share their analyses, at the crossroads of anthropology, law, economics and development, in order to debate these major issues and provide their insight.

With:

• Jean-Pierre CHAUVEAU, Research Director Emeritus at Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD).
• Etienne LE ROY, Emeritus Professor of the Anthropology of Law at Paris 1 Sorbonne University
• Michel MERLET, Director of the Association for the Governance of Land, Water and Natural Resources (aGter)
• Alain DURAND LASSERVE, Research Director Emeritus at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Key speakers:

• Fanjambola Yolande RAZAFINDRAKOTO, Executive Director of the NGO EFA, Former consultant as Technical Advisor to the Ministry for the New Land Policy (2004-2005); Former Director of the MCA Madagascar land project (2006-2009)
• Ousmane SY, Coordinator of the Alliance for Rebuilding Governance in Africa (ARGA), Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Africa Governance Institute (AGI), Former Minister of Territorial Administration and Local Authorities, Mali (2000-2002).

Agenda

14:00: Opening by Jean-Luc François, Director of the Agriculture, Rural Development and Biodiversity Division (AFD)
14:15: Comparison of 4 specific views on the progress and challenges of land policies
15:15: Comparison with the main development challenges by two key speakers
16:00: Discussions with the public
17:00: Closing by François Goldblatt, Director of the Global Economy and Development Strategies Directorate (MAEE), subject to confirmation

The “Ideas for Development” cycle of conferences

From 29 May to 13 June, AFD will be organizing an “Ideas for Development” cycle of five interdisciplinary conferences on a range of topic areas. These events will provide a framework for discussions on development issues with numerous experts with a professional or personal interest in this field. They are intended as a new forum for debates and meetings between researchers, students, professionals from a wide range of fields, and the general public.

From 29 May to 13 June, the AFD will be organising an “Ideas for Development” cycle of five interdisciplinary conferences on a range of topic areas. These events will provide a framework for discussions on development issues with numerous experts with a professional or personal interest in this field. They are intended as a new forum for debates and meetings between researchers, students, professionals from a wide range of fields, and the general public.

The first three conferences, described below, will focus on Africa’s economy and its performance, opportunities, stumbling blocks and prospects.

2nd conference : "Macro-economics and politics in Africa"

31 May, in partnership with Politique africaine and Afrique contemporaine magazines

Although macro-economics is an area usually addressed as a theoretical corpus developed by economists and technical public policy experts, it can also be seen as above all an expression of politics. This meeting aims to offer a different perspective on macro-economics, as the theatre of social struggles and conflicts between groups that offers material to gain a better understanding of the logic of the State and the mechanisms of power.  A “bottom-up” analysis of the technical aspects of macro-economics can shed light on the emergence of new players, new instruments and new positions and relationships of power – in other words, provide new ways of approaching the realities of African societies.

Speakers
Béatrice Hibou, CNRS, Sciences Po / CERI, FASOPO
Boris Samuel, SciencesPo CERI, FASOPO

To be followed by a debate with the audience. 

Conference on 31 May 2011, 10 am to 12.30 pm at the AFD, 5 rue Roland Barthes, Paris 12°.
Admission free subject to seating capacity and prior registration

Find out more and register for the conference

Scale up production and promote Burundi tea

On 4 May 2012, Tabu Abdallah Manirakiza, Burundi’s Minister of Finance, and Yves Terracol, Director of AFD’s regional agency based in Nairobi, signed a €1.2m agreement for a Trade Capacity Building Program (TCBP) grant to the Burundi Tea Authority (OTB).

From the fields to the customer…

This grant will be reallocated to OTB, the public enterprise in charge of the tea industry since 1971, which includes promoting tea growing at national level and marketing dry tea. It will allow it to pursue its efforts to scale up tea production and promote Burundi tea.

  
Picking tea leaves, Burundi

The focus will be on:

• implementing a quality approach, from the fields to the customer;
• improving OTB’s trade practices by promoting its direct sales;
• building the capacities of tea industry stakeholders. The aim is to empower them to be proactive to changes in the industry brought about by liberalization and privatization.  

A major source of foreign exchange and a tool to combat rural poverty

The industry is the second-largest cash crop after coffee. It accounts for 16% of the country’s exports and is therefore a major source of foreign exchange. In 2011, the turnover reached almost $22m. Furthermore, 80% of Burundi’s tea comes from village plantations. It is harvested throughout the year and thus provides some 60,000 households with a stable and regular source of income. Tea growing therefore contributes to reducing rural poverty.

Visit to the Teza tea growing complex. In the center, Jean Lamy, French Ambassador to Burundi, Alexis Nzohabonimana, CEO of OTB, and Yves Terracol, Director of the AFD regional agency in Nairobi

The proposals made by the study aim to reduce the average cost of migrant remittances and to optimize their impact on the development of African countries. They specifically focus on improving linked bank accounts (dual bank accounts for migrants in their country of residence and in their home country with activities coordinated between the banks of both countries), the development of innovative financial products, support for electronic payment technologies and the adaptation of regulatory and legislative frameworks.

What are the lessons learned from the study?

Due to their importance for the recipient communities, the flows of money from migrants tend to remain stable and are less sensitive to changes in the economic climate.

How to optimize remittances and their impact on development

• Reducing the cost of migrant remittances will increase their contribution to development.
• An understanding of the local context is the key to reducing the cost of remittances and informal flows.
• It would appear that the cost of remittances in the Maghreb region and franc zone has stabilized at a level that remains too high.
• While the profile of actors is becoming more diverse, there is still a need to develop the range of services in order to be more competitive.
• An overhaul of regulatory frameworks, with the aim of promoting diversification in the range of services and financial products, would help increase competition and reduce the cost of remittances.
• Four types of financial and technological services and products can contribute to reducing the cost of remittances.
• Actors, services, tools, new technologies…: there are ultimately five areas to be explored in order to expand and strengthen the range of banking and non-banking products and encourage both a reduction in the cost of remittances and co-development.